ThaiNGO

BACKGROUND:

Winrock International is a nonprofit organization that works with people in the United States and around the world to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity, and sustain natural resources. In 2016, Winrock International was awarded USAID Asia Counter Trafficking in Persons Project (USAID Asia CTIP), a 5-year regional program that focuses on learning and data, cross-border collaboration and reducing trafficking in persons (TIP) in key problematic industries - agriculture, fishing, construction, and domestic work. In 2017, Winrock began implementing USAID Thailand Countering Trafficking in Persons Project (USAID Thailand CTIP), a five-year, $10 million investment specifically working on reducing forced labor and TIP in Thailand.

As a key country of origin, transit and destination for migrants, Thailand is a regional migration hub within South-East Asia. Although migrant workers play a vital role in filling labor market demands in Thailand and despite efforts to regularize migration to Thailand, the majority of migrant workers continue to choose irregular channels to migrate and they live and work in a precarious legal status with increased opportunities for deception and exploitation. 

Mars Petcare a global industry leader in pet food, animal care and confectionary products, is aligned with USAID Asia CTIP and USAID Thailand CTIP in its interest to reduce the risk of forced labor and trafficking in persons (TIP) in seafood supply chains. In support of this shared objective, the three parties have been collaborating since 2017 through a shared value partnership that seeks to promote fair labor and improve worker wellbeing in Thailand’s seafood supply chain, and incite industry-led action to combat TIP and forced labor in the seafood sector in the region.

The Coordinator will support planned activities under this partnership to design a pilot to regularize the migrant status of Cambodian fishers in Thailand, utilizing blockchain-powered platforms to enhance trust, transparency and security in the recruitment process. The partnership will be engaging a technology partner to develop the platform, and the exercise will be complemented by the recruitment of relevant stakeholders (labor intermediaries, vessel owners and fishers) to pilot and test the system.

TASKS:

The primary task is to lead stakeholder engagement to support implementation of the pilot on regularization. Working closely with an identified technology partner, the Coordinator is expected to engage agencies, employers and migrant workers involved in the partnership activity to implement the regularization pilot. Representing the project as the on-the-ground liaison and coordinator, the Coordinator will schedule and lead meetings with the mentioned stakeholders and ensure a smooth delivery of the implementation activities.

The tasks for the role include, but are not limited, to the following:

• Liaising with priority stakeholders and partners for the pilot, including Asia/Thai CTIP personnel, staff and contacts from Thailand and Cambodia either through in-person meetings or remotely
• Coordination and support to the design, development testing and roll-out of the regularization pilot
• Conduct research, mapping and analysis of the current processes, practices and costs related to the regularization of Cambodian migrants who already migrated to Thailand
• Stakeholder mapping for the local context
• Engage stakeholders, including labor intermediaries, vessel owners and fishers, for implementation to map digital literacy levels, as well as language and technology accessibility requirements to use the platform
• Document the process and support the monitoring and evaluation of the pilot

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• At least 3 years of working experience in the field of migration and/or human trafficking
• Experience working with fishers in Thailand is highly preferred
• Good knowledge of the current policies governing migration and employment of fishers in Thailand
• Experience working with stakeholders across the public, private and non-profit sectors, and an existing network of contacts in the Asia region to draw upon with respect to public-private partnerships for development
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Thai is required, and proficiency in Khmer and/or other migrant worker languages is preferred
• Ability to work independently and effectively within tight deadlines
• A proven ability to work collaboratively with and build consensus among private, public, and civil society sector stakeholders required
• Able to travel domestically within Thailand and beyond, pending lifting of international travel restrictions
• Good reporting skills and experience in project management desirable

HOW TO APPLY:

Qualified candidates should submit a cover letter, resume and three references to info.th@winrock.org.  Please include “Coordinator for Migrant Worker Regularization Pilot in Thailand” in the email subject line, and save documents (cover letter, resume, and references) in one PDF as ‘Last Name_First Name.pdf’ (e.g., Smith_Jane.pdf). Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted. No phone calls please.